Raymond Elwood Merrick

Raymond Elwood Merrick, 89, died Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at the VA Hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Ray was born March 7, 1925, in Henryetta, OK, to Joseph Edward Merrick and Allene Saynes Merrick. The oldest of 4 children, he is survived by siblings John Wesley Merrick, Mary Ellen Ralston, and Margaret Louise Langham. When he was 17, he signed up for the Navy, serving as an aircraft mechanic on the USS Cabot, which earned 9 battle stars in WWII. He also served during the Korean War and retired from active duty in 1964. He then worked at the North Island Naval Base in San Diego, California, as a civilian through 1976 when he retired to Eufaula, OK, with his family. Ray married Dorothy Meyer in Newark, NJ, on August 15, 1959, and recently celebrated 55 years of marriage. Ray had five children, Donna Kay Burris, Donald Raymond Merrick (wife Nona), John Thomas Merrick (wife Melissa), James (Jim) Edward Merrick, and Dr. Robin Marie Murphy (husband Kaleb). He had 5 grandsons: Kendall and Monty Pollard, J.T. and Brandon Merrick, and Martin Murphy, 6 great grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and son, Jim. Ray was a long-time member of the Eufaula First Methodist Church, the Eufaula Masonic Lodge #1, the Bedouin Shrine of Muskogee, the VFW, the DAV, the Fleet Reserve Association, and the USS Cabot Association. Ray spent several years driving children to Shriner Hospitals and logged over 20 years and 40,000 hours of volunteer work in Escort Service at the VA Hospital in Muskogee. He retired from volunteering in 2010 when he was 85. Ray will be long remembered for his service to his country, his fellow veterans, and his community, a legacy he leaves with his children and grandchildren.